Shelf brackets and the like and blanks



G. w. JENSEN Feb. 3, 1970 Filed Dec. 18, 1967 ATTORNEY United StatesPatent O 3,493,202 SHELF BRACKETS AND THE LIKE AND BLANKS George W.Jensen, 9533 Densmore Place, Norfolk, Va. 23503 Filed Dec. 18, 1967,Ser. No. 691,637 Int. Cl. A47b 96/06; Alllk 97/10; A47c 25/12, 33/12 US.Cl. 24842 'Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A bracket formed from asingle piece of sheet material having a flat portion adapted to bemounted on a support surface and a staff receiving portion extending atan angle from the mounting portion.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to the art ofsupporting shelves or like structures by means of various hardwarecomponents which may be attached to the shelves to support them rigidly.While the prior art contains numerous teachings of brackets and likecomponents for this broad purpose, a notable deficiency of the art hasresided in the fact that the proposed supporting structures tend tobecome complex and costly and are frequently comprised of a number ofsmall parts which are awkward to assemble. Additionally, there is a needin the art for standardization of parts, in the sense that a singlebracket may be utilized in several different ways or in differentpositions and at a number of points in a given assemblage of shelving orthe like. The invention, to a great extent, satisfies this need andovercomes the known disadvantages of prior art devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A one-piece, initially flat, sheet metal blankis provided with punched openings to receive nails or screws in thefinally assembled structure. The blank is notched to facilitate bendingand forming and a clearance opening is provided in the blank to allowthe passage of a rod through the assembled structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary sideelevation of shelving employing the supporting bracket means of theinvention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of a blank from which an invention bracket isproduced;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a bracket showing one useposition thereof;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse section taken on line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a plan view of a modified blank;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of a bracket produced from the blank inFIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a plan view of a further modified blank; and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a bracket formed from the blank inFIGURE 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings inwhich like numerals designate like parts, and initially to FIGURES 1through 4, a fiat sheet metal blank 20 is depicted in FIGURE 2 and thisblank is subsequently formed to produce the shelfsupporting bracket 21shown in FIGURES 1 and 3.

The blank 20 is generally rectangular and elongated and includesrectangular end portions 22 and 23 separated by notches 24 whichfacilitate the subsequent bending and forming operations on the blank. Asomewhat elongated clearance slot 25 having rounded ends is formedthrough the rectangular portion 23 near the longitudinal center of theblank and a tongue 26 having a concave leading edge 27 is struck fromthe blank portion 23 and is adapted to subsequently form a brace afterbending on a transverse line 28. The entire blank 20 is adapted to bebent substantially in two on a transverse bending line 29. Each portion22 and 23 of the blank 20 has openings 30 punched therein near thecorners of the blank and at interventing points to facilitate thesubsequent attachment of the finished bracket 21 to shelves or to a wallor other panel structure.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 3 and 4 showing the completed bracket 21made from the blank 20, this bracket comprises a fiat mounting plateportion 31 for attachment to the bottom of a shelf 32 or 33 or to theface of a supporting wall 34, as depicted in FIGURE 1. The mountingplate portion 31 is formed from or consists of the rectangular blankportion 23, previously described, after the blank has been bent at 35upon the transverse line 29. This bending operation causes the mountingplate portion 31 of the bracket to assume an acute angle, such as 45, tothe remainder of the blank. It will be noted that the clearance opening25 now lies in the flat mounting plate portion 31 immediately above thebend or apex 35 of the bracket.

The opposite side of the bracket 21 produced by the bending operationcomprises an inclined open-ended cylindrical tubular socket or sleeve 36including half sections 37, FIGURE 4, whose edges meet and abut at 38 atthe top side of the sleeve 36. This sleeve or socket is produced by arolling formation of the two wings 22' of the blank portion 22 whichextend outwardly of the corners 24' of notches 24 of the blank 20. Theopenings 30 of wings 22' after formation of the sleeve 36 lie ondiametrically opposite sides of the sleeve, as shown. The sleeve 36 ofthe bracket remains integrally joined at its lower end with a shortextension 39 which remains substantially flat after the formingoperations and this extension is produced from the original neck portion24a of the blank 20 lying between the notches 24.

7 To complete the construction of the bracket 21, the tongue 26 of blankportion 23 is bent outwardly to produce a diagonal brace 40 extendingbetween the mounting plate portion 31 and the upper side of sleeve 36substantially at the longitudinal center of the sleeve. The arcuate edge27 engages the rounded top of the sleeve 36, FIGURE 4, and the brace 40is welded to the sleeve as at 41 to secure the bracket rigidly andpermanently in its final configuration. The two halves 37 of the sleeve36 are now secured together by means of the welded brace 40 and theentire bracket is rigid and has been formed in its entirety from theone-piece blank 20.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the bracket 21 is employed in the construction ofplatforms or shelves 32 and 33 extending horizontally at right angles tothe wall 34. The lowermost bracket 21 in this structural assembly hasits mounting plate portion 31 anchored to the wall 34 by nails or thelike engaging within the openings 30 of the mounting plate portion. Thesocket or sleeve 36 extends upwardly at 45 to the wall and receives acontinuous rod 42, common to the several shelves or platforms 32, 33,etc. and rigidly interconnecting the forward ends thereof in assembly.The rear edges of the shelves are anchored to the wall in anyconventional manner. The lower end of the rod 42 is anchored within thesleeve 36 or socket of the lowermost bracket 21 by means of nails 43 orlike fastener elements which extend through the side openings 30 of thesleeves and diametrically through the rod, FIGURE 4.

The brackets 21 above the lowermost bracket in FIG- URE 1 are arrangedwith their mounting plate portions 31 horizontally disposed and lyingagainst the bottoms of the shelves and anchored thereto with nails orthe like through the openings 30. These brackets are arranged justinwardly of the leading edges of the shelves and the sleeves 36 receivethe continuous rod 42 therethrough and are anchored to the rod byadditional nails 43 or the like. The rod 42 extends through theclearance opening 25 of all brackets 21 except the lowermost bracketwhich abuts the wall 34. Thus the supporting rod 42 need not be formedin sections but may be continuous, as explained. Depending upon thelength of the shelves along the wall, additional rods and sets ofsupporting brackets 21 may be employed to meet the needs of theinstallation.

Although not shown in the drawings, in some instances, the socketportion 36 of the bracket need not be formed circular in cross section,although this is preferred. The wings 22 of the blank 20 may simply bebent upwardly from the plane of portion 22 along parallel linesbeginning at the corners 24' and this will produce a socket which isroughly triangular and which is capable of receiving a rod similar tothe rod 42. In such a bracket, the brace 40 would still be utilized andwould be tack welded to the edges of the bent up socket sides whichwould simply be flat instead of curved.

It may now be understood that the bracket produced from the unitaryblank 20 is versatile in its construction and usage and may be employedin at least two different ways in the construction of shelves or likedevices.

FIGURES and 6 show a modified form of blank and bracket in accordancewith the invention. In FIGURE 5, a fiat rectangular blank 44 is providedwith punched openings 45 and is cut to form a pair of diverging diagonaltongues 46 near the center of the blank, said tongues bendable from theplane of the blank 44 on spaced parallel lines 47.

In FIGURE 6, the bracket produced from the blank 44 includes a mountingplate portion 48 adapted to be anchored to a flat surface by fastenermeans 49. The tongues 46 are bent upwardly from the plane of the blankat right angles to produce spaced parallel holders 50 for a rod member51 anchored therebetween by suitable fasteners 52 engaging throughregistering openings 45 of the opposed holders or tongues. Theconstruction is extremely simple and the one-piece blank produces aone-piece bracket mountable to a wall or the like for securing a rodmember at a precise angle to the wall, such as 45. The bracket in FIGURE6 finds utility in shelf construction and in other situations.

FIGURES 7 and 8 show another modified blank 53 which is rectangular andelongated and has punched openings 54 near and inwardly of itslongitudinally edges and also in a pair of tandemly arranged rectangulartongues 55 extending longitudinally at the center of the blank bysuitable cutting of the blank. The tongues 55 are bendable on transverselines 56.

The bracket 57, FIGURE 8, produced from the blank 53 is a right angularbracket having perpendicular mounting plate portions 58 and 59 formed bybending the blank 53 transversely at its longitudinal center between thelines '56. The tongues 55 are bent upwardly from the plane of the blankand at 45 to the portions 58 and 59 to form spaced parallel aperturedholders 60 for a rod element or the like. Separately formed gussets 61may be welded in the corner of the bracket 57 between the portions 58and 59 and on opposite sides of the slots 62 produced by the formationof the elements 60. In view of the foregoing descriptions, the utilityof the bracket 57 should require no further description and the bracketmay be utilized to anchor a rod member or the like in a situation wheretwo supporting surfaces at right angles to each other are involved.

It is to be understood that the forms of the invention herewith shownand described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same, andthat various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A bracket for shelving and the like formed fro an initially flatunitary blank comprising a substantially flat mounting plate portionadapted for attachment to' a supporting surface, a socket memberextending from the mounting plate portion in divergent relation theretoat an acute angle and being open ended for the reception--of astructural rod member, an extension part interconnecting the mountingplate portion and socket member ,at one end of the socket member, and aportion struck from said mounting plate to form a diagonal brace rigidlyinterconnecting the socket member near its longitudinal center with saidmounting plate portion.

2. A bracket for shelving and the like formed from an initially flatunitary blank comprising a substantially fiat mounting plate portionadapted for attachment to a supporting surface, a socket memberextending fromthe mounting plate portion in divergent relation theretoat an acute angle and being open ended for the reception of a structuralrod member, an extension part interconnecting the mounting plate portionand socket member at one end of the socket member, a diagonal bracerigidly interconnecting the socket member near its longitudinal centerwith said mounting plate portion, wherein the socket member issubstantially cylindrical and tubular and includes opposingsubstantially semi-circular halves having abutting edges, and said bracespanning the abutting edges and welded to said halves.

3. A bracket for shelving and the like as defined by claim 2, andwherein the abutting halves of the socket member have registeringtransverse openings adapted to receive fasteners, whereby a rod membermay be rigidly secured in the socket member.

4. A bracket for shelving and the like as defined by claim 3, andwherein the mounting plate portion has a clearance opening formedtherethrough in alignment with the axis of the socket member so that acontinuous rod member may extend through a series of brackets formingparts of shelving or the like.

5. A blank for producing a unitary shelf bracket or the like comprisinga substantially fiat generally rectangular elongated body portion havingapertures arranged substantially in rows near and inwardly of thelongitudinal edges of the body portion, the blank having alongitudinally tapered reduced neck near its longitudinal center formingopposed notches on opposite sides of the neck and having a clearanceopening at its transverse center adjacent the wider end of the neck,said body portion being cut to produce an elongated longitudinal tongueat its transverse center bendable from the plane of the body portion ona transverse line at one end of the tongue, the tongue disposed in theend portion of the blank separated from the neck of the blank by theclearance opening, said transverse line at one end of the tongue atwhich said tongue is bendable being located at the opposite end of saidtongue from said clearance opening.

6. A blank for producing a unitary shelf bracket or the like comprisinga substantially flat generally rectangular elongated body portion havingapertures arranged in rows near and inwardly of the longitudinal edgesof the body portion, the blank having a longitudinally tapered reducedneck near its longitudinal center forming opposed notches on oppositesides of the neck and having a clearance opening at its transversecenter adjacent the wider end of the neck, said body portion being cutto produce an elongated longitudinal tongue at its transverse centerbendable from the plane of the body portion on a transverse line at oneend of the tongue, the tongue disposed in the end portion of the blankseparated from the neck of the blank by the clearance opening, whereinsaid cutting of the body portion includes a curved cut producing aconcave edge on the free end of said tongue.

7. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material comprising a mountingportion disposed at substantially right angles relative to each other,tongue portions struck from said mounting portions extending insubstantially parallel relationship, said tongue portion being at anangle to both of said mounting portions and a reinforcing memberconnected between at least one of said mounting portions and said tongueportions.

8. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material as defined by claim 7,wherein said reinforcing member is connected between both of saidmounting portions.

9. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material as defined by claim 8,and wherein said tongues are apertured at spaced points and liesubstantially equidistant on opposite sides of a center line through thebody portion.

10. A unitary bracket formed from sheet material as defined by claim 7,and wherein said tongues are apertured at spaced points and liesubstantially equidistant on opposite sides of a center line through thebody portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,053,255 2/1913 Ward 248-421,268,488 6/1918 Pullen 24-8300 X 2,502,049 3/1950 Kaminski 248300 X2,899,225 8/1959 Birr 28720 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner I. FRANKLINFOSS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

